AFL Grand Final
Encyclopedia : A : AF : AFL : AFL Grand Final
The AFL Grand Final is the annual Australian Rules Football match held to determine the Australian Football League premiers for that year.
With an official attendance of 91,828 at the 2005 AFL Grand Final, it is currently the largest domestic club championship event in the world.
History
The first VFL/AFL Grand Final was contested in the VFL's second season in 1898. In the previous year, the finals series had a round robin format.Prize
The winner is awarded the AFL premiership cup.A cash prize to the winning club of AUD$250,000 is also awarded. Following the Sydney Swans premiership in 2005, many clubs publicly questioned the prizemoney [link], which has not increased for many years and barely covers the cost of participation in the finals series. In contrast, the winner of the NAB Cup, a pre-season competition is currently awarded a similar amount, AUD$220,000.
The winner of the premiership typically experiences increased membership and sale of merchandise.
Qualification
The two Grand Finalists qualify via finals series play-offs at the end of the season. In the current system, the eight teams finishing highest on the ladder after all the home and away rounds qualify for the four-week long finals series culminating in the Grand Final. The team that finishes the regular season at the top of the ladder are said to have won the minor premiership and are awarded the relatively obscure McClelland Trophy.Venues
The Grand Final is traditionally played in Melbourne at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. It has been played elsewhere only on a few occasions, being held at Lake Oval and the Junction Oval early in the league's history and Princes Park (Optus Oval) during World War II when the MCG was being used as barracks to house US Troops. When the MCG was being redeveloped in 1991, the Grand Final was contested at the AFL-owned Waverley Park.
The Grand Final is usually played on the final Saturday in September each year and is referred to in popular Australian culture as the One Day in September.
Over time the AFL (formerly VFL) has gradually become a national competition since the relocation of South Melbourne to Sydney and later admission of teams from Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide.
Of the current clubs, only Fremantle have never (as of the 2005 finals) made a Grand Final appearance. Defunct clubs which never made it include University and the old Brisbane Bears (although their successor, the Brisbane Lions have won three Grand Finals and lost a fourth.)
The first "interstate" (i.e., non-Victorian) team to play in the Grand Final were the West Coast Eagles, who lost in 1991 but came back to win their first Premiership in 1992. (The Swans had been in several Grand Finals before their move to Sydney in 1982, but always as the South Melbourne Swans: their first Grand Final appearance after their move to Sydney didn't come until 1996.) The first Grand Final matching two interstate teams was the 2004 contest where the Port Adelaide Power beat the Brisbane Lions 113-73.
Since the expansion of the league, the AFL Grand Final has become a truly national event. For the past five years the premiership has been won by teams outside of the game's traditional home of Victoria.
The 2005 Grand Final was officially regarded as the 109th Grand Final. Throughout history, Grand Finals were not staged in either of 1897 or 1924, with the premiership instead being awarded after a round robin amongst the top four teams; this accounts for 107 Grand Finals. An additional Grand Final was played in 1948 and 1977, each of which was necessitated by a tied Grand Final. These are generally referred to as Grand Final Replays or "Extra Finals", but count in the official tally of Grand Finals. Furthermore, under the Argus finals system which existed from 1900 until 1930, there being a designated Grand Final depended upon the minor premiers having not won the previous week's game, known as the Final: each final which decided the premiership had hence been reclassified a Grand Final retrospectively.
Recent History of the AFL Grand Final
| Year | Results | Crowd, Stadium |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Sydney Swans 8. 10. (58) def. West Coast Eagles 7. 12. (54) | 91,828 (MCG)* |
| 2004 | Port Adelaide 17. 11. (113) def. Brisbane Lions 10. 13. (73) | 77,671 (MCG)* |
| 2003 | Brisbane Lions 20. 14. (134) def Collingwood 12. 12. (84) | 79,451 (MCG)* |
| 2002 | Brisbane Lions 10. 15. (75) def Collingwood 9. 12. (66) | 91,817 (MCG) |
| 2001 | Brisbane Lions 15. 18. (108) def Essendon 12. 10. (82) | 91,482 (MCG) |
| 2000 | Essendon 19. 21. (135) def Melbourne 11. 9. (75) | 96,249 (MCG) |
(* Capacity of ground reduced due to redevelopment for the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games)
For all Grand Final winners in the VFL/AFL, see List of Australian Football League premiers.
AFL Grand Final Sprint
A running race takes place several hours before the start of the Grand Final, between players that are not taking place in the Grand Final. It is conducted over several heats.In 2005, the winner was Brett Deledio.
Entertainment
Over the years many big Australian and international stars have performed or appeared at the Grand Final. Notable entertainment includes:
- 1991: At VFL Park, Angry Anderson sang the song "Bound for Glory", appearing out of a Batmobile.
- 1994: The Seekers sang Advance Australia Fair.
- 1998: Muhammad Ali made an appearance at the 1998 Grand Final (although not performing).
- 2004: First Australian Idol, Guy Sebastian sang both "Waltzing Matilda" and "Advance Australia Fair"
- 2005: Silvie Paladino sang the national anthem, and was involved in controversy when Delta Goodrem expressed her interest at that role. However, an arrangement allowed Goodrem to sing "I Am Australian" on the day. Michael Buble and Dame Edna Everage also performed.
See also
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.